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Doctors Negotiate With Ministers

Khaled Samir, the treasurer of the Doctors Syndicate and one of those negotiating on the doctors behalf, said they are continuing and that there is consensus and response. But Samir added that none of what was discussed was drafted as a law yet. We are working day and night to be able to present the cabinet with a proposal, he said, adding that the negotiations are set to be concluded on Tuesday. In October, the Ministries of Health and Finance announced the finalisation of a new draft law , the Medical Incentives Law,which would increase the salaries of professionals employed in the public health sector. However, many doctors expressed dissatisfaction with it. State run Al-Ahram reported that the draft Medical Incentives Law would grant freshly graduated doctors a gross salary of only EGP 1,800 which falls short of the previously proposed draft Staff Law, with a proposed monthly income of EGP 3,000. Doctors have been pushing for the draft Staff Law for months. It organises financial, administrative and technical matters for all professionals in the healthcare sector, not just doctors. The new Secretary General of the syndicate Mona Mina, a founding member of Doctors Without Rights called on Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi and Maha Al-Rabat to immediately intervene to implement the draft Staff Law, ahead of a strike scheduled for 1 January. Midterm elections held in the syndicate last week have secured for theIndependent Movement 11 out of 12 contested seats. Traditionally, the Muslim Brotherhood succeeded in syndicate elections but this time, they only won a single seat. The new syndicate board met for the first time on Thursday, in a meeting attended by Al-Rabat. The syndicate announced after the meeting that the negotiations would be held throughout this week. The syndicate warned on Thursday to strike, as per a decision made by the syndicates General Assembly, if negotiations lead to unsatisfactory results. On 6 December, the syndicate held an emergency session of the General Assembly. During the assembly, doctors unanimously voted to back the draft Staff Law and agreed to start a partial strike on 1 January. The strike would follow the same technique as the one carried out by doctors in 2012.

Doctors producer Peter Lloyd on 2014 storylines

Instead we’re going to be looking at what makes Heston tick. He’s buying Julia’s house and feels like he’s moving on to pastures new, but he may not like what he finds” Can you give us any other character gossip? “I’m pleased to say that Jimmi will be getting some romance in his life, and she’s going to take him down some interesting avenues. Chris is going to be leaving us in suitably dramatic fashion, and poor Jimmi is going to be dragged into this story too, however hard he tries to resist. Jimmi is put in a pretty impossible situation, and we all know that he doesn’t like being trapped, so this one’s going to be interesting. “For Mandy, there’s a big shock coming, and hopefully a shock for the audience too. And Kevin’s not going to escape it either. Keep your eyes peeled” Will the proposed ‘super-surgery’ continue to pose a threat to The Mill next year? “Sadly, or perhaps happily, economic hardships (as well as some rather troublesome news) have ended the plans for a Superpractice for now. But we’re always looking for outside threats to the surgery, so this could rear its ugly head once more” After they bonded recently, would you ever consider turning Zara and Emma into more of a dynamic duo working together? “I think they’re going to have their moments, there’s certainly chemistry there, but equally, they’re going to come into conflict too – they’re both alpha females and sparks are going to fly. With the departure of Chris, we want Emma to spread her wings a little and have a bit of fun – she’s been worrying a lot and grieving, and her work at the police station is serious stuff.